[Effects of octreotide (somatostatin analog SMS 201-995) on superior mesenteric artery blood flow in swine. An experimental study using Doppler color ultrasonography].

The effect of octreotide on splanchnic haemodynamics was investigated in 25 domestic pigs by mean of US-colordoppler. In a blind-operator design the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) blood flow was evaluated before and after i.m. injection of 5, 10, 20, 25 micrograms/kg or of an equivalent volume of saline solution. Seven serial measurements were taken every 10 min in each pig excluding the higher and the lower values. The administration of 5 and 10 micrograms/kg determined a rapid and stable (3 hours) decrease of the SMA blood flow (6 and 8.5% respectively) (p < 0.05). The blood flow decreased by 27-29% (p < 0.001) in response to the administration of 20 and 25 micrograms/kg respectively. The reduction started 30 min after injection and the blood flow remained lower than basal for up to 5 hours. Because of the mean standard error of US blood flow assessment is 10% due to the interobserver and intraobserver variations, we considered statistically significant only the reduction occurred after the administration of 20 or 25 micrograms/kg. Authors findings suggest that high dose of octreotide is effective in reducing the splanchnic haemodynamics in the pig. Such animal can be used in experimental setting planed to assess the effect of splanchnic blood flow reduction.